Avatar: The World of Mirrors
by The World on Glass
Summary: It's been nine years since Avatar Korra passed away, and the world has lost its balance. The Order of the White Lotus has not yet found the next avatar. In the far reaches of the Si-Wong Desert, a young boy discovers his destiny...
1. Chapter 1

Not long ago, the world was at balance. The master of all four elements, and bridge between the human and spirit worlds, Avatar Korra, alongside the Order of the White Lotus, implemented a society of harmony between nations, people, and spirits. Humans would look to spirits, and experience a profound sense of admiration, reverence, and respect. Spirits would look at their new-found relevance to the planet with joy and delight. This all changed, however, when Quinu the diviner came into power. It was then that the world lost its joy, and became shrouded in a cloud of ambiguity. Destiny cried for light in the night, and into the whispering winds of the Si-Wong desert, that light was born, Dun, the second avatar of the new age…

* * *

 **Book One: Separation**

 **Chapter 1: The Child from the Oasis**

The cries of the newborn were never heard in the night. Tears fell from his eyes, but he made not a whimper. His older brother gazed into his eyes in wonder.

"Here he is," said Shenji, as he placed his newly born brother into his mother's arms.

"His eyes are more radiant than the stars," whispered Mingxing, the infant's mother.

A weak smile appeared across Mingxing's face as the child fondled her pinkie finger. "Hello my swee—egkhough kough!"

"Mom, you have to rest!" Exclaimed Shenji. "I'll bring you water. Here, take this and lay down. I'll be right back!"

"Wait, my little miracle," said Mingxing lovingly, "Come hold your mother's hand."

Shenji sniffled as he reluctantly returned to his mother's side. His mother held tight to his whimpering seven-year-old body, and kissed his cheek. They both eased against the corroded walls of their ramshackle apartment. Shenji stared downwards, his eyes running with tears. A warm desert gale danced through the window. Then, the brave mother closed her eyes, let in a deep breath, and exhaled calmly.

"Shenji, I need you to be strong…for Dun. You have to be unwavering, like a saber-tooth moose lion, hehe…I already know you're just as brave as one," Mingxing said with a smile.

She looked at her son with a gleam in her fading eyes. Shenji didn't respond. But she was persistent.

"If he slips up, just give him an antler to the rear, and a nudge in the right direction."

She nudged her son as she said this, and the playfulness brought an end to Shenji's whimpering. His gaze continued to face downwards, but at least now he looked less distraught. He seemed calm enough.

"I love you two. Always remember that."

* * *

Dun awoke from his dream, the vague voice of unconditioned love still echoing within his heart. It'd been nine years since that night had really happened, but for all Dun knew, he'd been living with his aunt and uncle ever since he was born. They, along with his brother Shenji, were the only family he ever knew.

Suddenly water splashed into Dun's face. As Dun shivered and shook his head, there came a loud, "Wakey, wakey! You'll miss breakfast again if you don't break this habit of sleeping in you have! Soon you'll have less meat on you than a winged lemur, except you won't be able to impress anyone by flying…so it'll kinda suck."

Shenji raised an eyebrow at his indignant brother with a face that looked as if it warned, " _It will suck."_ After a brief stare down, the two of them busted into laughter, Shenji a hearty one, and Dun, more of a mild chuckle. "Ugh. Give me a sec. I'll be down after I dry off you imbecile," said Dune, laughing inside at his snarky remark.

After Shenji left the room, Dun turned to look at his terrarium of spider-ants by his window. As he'd expected, there was one less ant than there was yesterday. At least he didn't have to feed them. But still, he wondered, which spider-ant would be the last one standing? And then, what would happen to it? As he pondered this, his eyes shifted outside his window, where the Misty Palms Oasis was beginning another beautiful day of buying, selling, and commandeering without asking. The latter made it an iffy place to live for some, but for Dun, it made things exciting. The bazaar was just waking up, store-owners beckoning and shouting to passerby to buy their new shipments that just came in from the railroad. "Fresh Panda Lilies straight from the most popping volcano in all the land!" shouted one merchant.

"No buy my Moon Flowers! There much more spectacular and rare in this sunbaked pancake!" argued another.

"Pancake? Really!?" questioned the Panda Lily man.

As the two merchants began their typical ritual of morning argument, the early morning sun's rays shone through the open curtains and cast a light upon the turquoise colored walls of Dun's bedroom. The boy made out the outlines of a few buzzard wasps flying high above the city, their silhouettes barely visible upon the background of the beautiful light blue sky. "Dun come on!" shouted Shenji, "we're all still waiting for you!"

At the sound of his brother's voice, Dun snapped out of his hypnotic trance and stamped the olive-colored floor. A thin square of dust appeared around his feet.

Beneath him, his aunt's patience had just expired. "I'll get him down here," she declared with a stern and mother-like glare. But as she began towards the stairwell, the ceiling above her gave a loud "crack!" and a then a "thud!" as a chunk of it fell down to the first floor. The woman released a loud screech as her curled up nephew nearly laughed himself to death upon his stone pedestal, his hair half stuck to his face, and half stuck up. Miku's reaction was priceless, and it wasn't just hers. The usually collected man in the house, uncle Neji, sat in his chair across the room with his jaw agar, and with his coffee, which was seventy-five percent up to his face, spilling in his lap. In the other corner of the room, at the eating mat, Shenji's eyes rapidly expanded into spheres of amazement at the audacity of his brother, but when Shenji recalled what his aunt's temper could do, he put on his Pai Sho face and began frantically engulfing his breakfast. In no way whatsoever, was he getting involved.

Dun finally began to wipe away his tears of laughter. He let out a sigh, and expectantly awaited his family's response with a young and satisfied grin. That face, however, wasn't met with a reflecting one. It was met with the face of doom—quintessential, terrifying, primal doom.

For from forth the fatal curtains of dust arose not Miku, but rather a monstrous beast of maternal rage. Her short hair levitated as energy welled up from within her chi. The beast's breath began to air bend the dust in the room, and caused it to spiral in a wild dance. From the tinted living room, mere feet away from Dun, her beady eyes glared into his soul with the wildness of a goat gorilla in the avatar state, and while she didn't have tusks or horns, she did have a spatula.

It was at that moment Dun knew: he messed up. He felt every hair on his head jump straight up. "Here…let me just…put this back," he awkwardly croaked.

He bended the slab, and every pebble alongside it, back into place in silence. Dun saw Shenji in the other room, still gulping down food and breathing intensely, as if he'd seen a ghost. The warrior before Dun stood strong, apron clad, a twitch in her right nostril. The spatula was tightly clenched in front of her chest, and was slowly ascending to the point of no return. "Please don't be mad at me auntie," Dun pleaded as he approached her with open arms, "you know I love you."

The boy innocently embraced the bewildered aunt and stared up into her eyes, or rather _her_ soul, with mystic, twinkling radiance and wonder. She couldn't be mad at him like this could she? After all, with eyes like those, how could anyone ever even think of being mad at him? " _I mean…look at them!"_ she thought to herself. Neji, across the room, sensed that the disturbance had passed, and proceeded to read his paper as if nothing had ever happened.

Dun, didn't really acknowledge his own appeal. It was all fake. He just knew he had to do it to survive. It was tragic that he had to fake his personality, but an unavoidable part of life. Dun had wanted them to be amused, not angered. They wouldn't know fun when they saw it, and that bothered him.

Aunt Miku walked back into the kitchen and sat down at the mat. "Neji, turn off that Varrick-Vision and come sit down," she told her husband, "You too Dun…uuuhhh."

She breathed a long sigh. The four sat together as Neji said a blessing.

* * *

Through the crowded alleyways of town, there walked a woman, dressed un-like the citizens of Misty Palms, who typically wore eccentric traditional-based garbs from the different lands. Rather, this woman wore a dark blue business-like dress, which may not have been all too uncommon, if it weren't for the collar which decorated her collarbone. It was decorated with elaborate swirling patterns, swiveling around what appeared to be a lotus flower in the center…

* * *

There was no school that day, on account of it being Unification Day. Instead, there was to be a carnival in the center of town where the Great Uniter's Railroad passed by the world-renowned spirit glacier. All of the kids in town who were around the same age as Dun, went to this festival with their families to remember how Kuvira of Zaofu re-united the Earth Kingdom in its time of need, but more importantly to celebrate cultural-diversity and people's eternal ties to one another.

Eventually, the family arrived in the center of town. There was much hustle and bustle, especially surrounding the Earth Kingdom-renowned Cactus Cantina. Hordes of folks waited to get inside, eager to taste the sword blended fruit smoothie goodness that beckoned to their pallets. Dun's family jumped into the multi-filed line as well, but Dun's heart wasn't all in it. He was distracted by something else. At one of the booths in the circle was a strange contraption that caught Dun's eye. He slipped out of line and headed towards it. His older brother noticed. "Aunt Miku, Uncle Neji, I'm going with Dun to that booth over there!"

"Stick together!" shouted Neji as Shenji ran off.

When Shenji caught up to Dun, he didn't hesitate to ask, "Are you stupid? How could you run off like that without saying anything?"

But Dun still didn't say anything. He blankly stared into the elaborate, hourglass like object before him. Sand ran through its eight glossy, spherical chambers and tubes. It was entrancing, like water. Without form, in a constant state of flux, with no rule aside from continuity. It was controlled disorder, it was beautiful, and it called to him…

"Oh, hello young ones!" greeted a very amicable shop owner.

"Hello sir," said Shenji as he shook the man's eager hand.

Shenji gave Dun an elbow. "Hey, show some respect!" he whispered.

Dun was suddenly back. "Oh…hi, or…hello sir!" he stated as his hand was crushed and blended by the shop owner's.

"I apologize for my brother's lack of manners," Shenji told the man.

"Do not worry, haha, I'm more flattered than offended. I see your brother has an interest in my clock," said the man.

"That's a clock?" Shenji questioned, "I mean, with all due respect, sir, it looks nothing like one I've ever seen. I mean, clocks run on battery power and all."

The man smiled fondly "This clock is special," he told Shenji, "You see, this isn't your usual clock. It's a work of art. The lack of electricity is a reminder of the time in which we used to live. The sand represents the flow of time, as well as how we must become one with our past to create progress. The glass represents the clarity we need, in order to create a better future. And above all that, it tells time!"

The man let out a loud laugh at his own joke. "Where did you get this piece?" asked Dun, as he continued to look solemnly at the clock.

"Well actually—"

Suddenly, there was a large crash of barrels. "Those are mine! Come back here!" a voice called out.

The boys swiveled around, to see two sand benders, both covered in rags, running towards them. One had a large sack of goods slung over his back. "Aaack!" came another shout.

Only this time, the shout came from right behind Dun and Shenji—from the storekeeper's shop. The boys turned to see another sand bender, this one more beefy than the other two, holding the shopkeeper from behind, with a blade to his throat. The bandit's face was masked, but it was clear that he wasn't in a good mood. The storekeeper, barely noticeably, gulped. "Listen to me, whatever this is about, I don't want to get involved. Just take what you want and please, leave."

The bandit didn't seem satisfied. The other two sand benders ran up to the larger one. "Come on, we don't have much time," said one.

He was right, the MPPD were showing up on the scene. The quiet bandit, who was wearing a cloak, made a gesture with his hand symbolizing a diving motion. "Time to go," said the one who'd spoken already.

Just then, a sinkhole opened in the ground between them. The silent one swiped the clock, and the three bandits, still holding the shopkeeper captive, dove into the ground.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Come back to find out what happens next!


	2. Chapter 2

Not long ago, the world was at balance. The master of all four elements, and bridge between the human and spirit worlds, Avatar Korra, alongside the Order of the White Lotus, implemented a society of harmony between nations, people, and spirits. Humans would look to spirits, and experience a profound sense of admiration, reverence, and respect. Spirits would look at their new-found relevance to the planet with joy and delight. This all changed, however, when Quinu the diviner came into power. It was then that the world lost its joy, and became shrouded in a cloud of ambiguity. Destiny cried for light in the night, and into the whispering winds of the Si-Wong desert, that light was born, Dun, the second avatar of the new age…

* * *

 **Book One: Separation**

 **Chapter 2: Race Against Time**

Shouts reverberated along a maze of clay walls as pandemonium swept over the town center. Officers of the Misty Palms Police Department were barred by the dense crowd. On-scene journalists, who were supposed to be documenting the holiday, bolted to get a shot of the action. They turned their lenses to the storeowner's shop, where the brothers Shenji and Dun stood peering into the ground. Camera flashes struck the boy's backs like neon fragments of the sun.

"Shenji, we have to go after them!" Dun exclaimed.

Shenji flailed his arms around. "Are you cra—?! Never mind, I already know the answer. Egh...look, we're going back Miku and Neji. This isn't our problem," said Shenji.

Shenji tried to usher his brother back to Miku and Neji, but Dun wouldn't budge. Shenji, after having enough of his brother's nonsense for one day, grabbed Dun by the back of his vest, and started walking. Dun's gaze intensified on the portal before him. It was diminishing by the second, and he couldn't stand it. "We don't have time for this!" shouted Dun.

Shenji continued marching with a stern look on his face. He wasn't about to risk his _life_ for someone he'd spoken _three_ sentences to. He knew about sand benders. And he knew that you don't just jump into a hole and follow three to who knows where. He was going back, to his aunt, and to his uncle, and in no way was he going to—" _shoop_!" Before Shenji could finish thinking, the ground beneath him slid to the right, and tripped him.

"I'm going after them!" shouted Dun.

As he neared the swirling sand, he leaped into the air. "Wait!" called Shenji.

But he was too late. The abyssal vortex swallowed Dune, and transported him to the world beneath.

* * *

Down an earth slide, Dun raced, his chest to the earth. It was too dark to see a thing, and there was little to no sound aside from Dun's body sliding along. After plummeting for a minute, he noticed a flickering orange light approaching. It was Dun's one and only way out.

At the end of the slide, Dun received a face full of dirt as he crashed into a sand mound two times larger than himself. After wiggling his head out, he took a look around. He was in a long narrow tunnel. The lights on the ceiling were lit by dim yellow bulbs, which caused shadows to flicker along the orange walls and the iron pipes that lined them. Wind echoed through the shafts, causing the tunnel to moan eerily.

Dun stood up. As he began his trek, five elephant rats scurried from the path before him, and returned to their shadowy retreats. He never gave them a second thought as he ran by. His plan was to rescue the shopkeeper, and become the Misty Palms Oasis' new hero.

Dune strode along. A confident grin burglarized his face. Through his pants came chuckles. The boy was excited, and it showed through every crack in his composure. He could hardly contain himself from screaming " _yes!_ " at the top of his lungs, but that would jeopardize the mission. Like he was ever going to let that happen.

The minutes passed quickly as Dun's mind basked in glorious thoughts. Then suddenly, he realized an ever closer bleak gray doorway far off in the distance. And more, he heard voices.

As he approached the door, Dun assessed that beyond lay a vast chamber, stocked with stolen shipments ranging from cabbages to flux-capacitors. Over the threshold he ran, to find himself surrounded by treasure beyond compare. Laced pearls and gold coins intermingled with the nests of repossessions that clothed the cold cement walls of this underground silo. Beneath a cactus tapestry, a brand new satomobile collected dust. Still, its beige coat and cardinal highlights were gorgeous. The car alone, must have been worth a million gold pieces. The entire room must have been worth ten-thousand fortunes.

High above Dun's head, the sand benders scaled a momentous ladder to their escape.

The opulence of the room had mesmerized Dun for a moment, but he came to soon enough. He examined the room once again, but this time with different eyes. He noticed that from a small porthole above, dust and sunlight fell into the void, distorting three figures atop a ladder.

Dun bolted to the ladder and started climbing. The sand benders, without noticing him, crawled out of the treasure room, and bended a boulder over the hole. Dune was left in the dark, but the rock didn't trouble him. He continued to climb.

* * *

Back in Misty Palms, a woman looked outside the Cactus Cantina into the now calamitous streets. She uncrossed her legs as she stood up from her bar seat, and pushed up her glasses as she walked out with her smoothie.

A few meters away from her stood a family of three. There stood a man with a long gray braid who looked around 40, a beautiful woman with short black hair probably in her late 30's, and an approximately 16-year-old boy with a rather dismal look on his face. The woman who appeared to be his mother conversed with the police.

"I understand mam," said an officer. "What's your nephew's name?"

"His name is Dun, Dun Tianshi! And you'd better get him back here before dinner, or his new name will be done!"

"Well of course mam. We're doing our best to ensure that he's not…'done'".

"I don't see you doing anything except talking to me! So how are you helping Dun?!"

The police officer shifted awkwardly. This woman sure was a hassle. What with the pointing and the yelling…the looking like she wanted to deck him.

"What's your name?! I want to send a message to the chief!" she interrogated and proceeded to declare.

"My name is officer Youya, and _I am_ the chief."

"Well then, tell your men to get a move on!" she screamed as if she were the new chief.

Whoever she was, this woman was to the business woman's liking—assertive, and adamant in her "go-getter" attitude. The businesswoman pulled her knee-level pencil skirt down a bit and adjusted her collar. Then she kept watching with open eyes as she sipped her smoothie. The navy blue beads on her wrist moved towards her elbow as she fondled her straw.

An officer had come up to speak with Youya. "Sir, one of our sensitives says there's a tunnel under the ground leading west. He says it probably lets out at Sandstorm Quarry."

Youya nodded. "Alright. Thank you."

He could finally turn his attention away from the woman and do his job. Grabbing a walkie-talkie from his belt, he ordered his men. "They're headed for Sandstorm Quarry! Mirage division, stay here and calm the crowd. Riser division, come with me. We're taking the Unagis."

The Riser division men jumped into their sleek-back, brand-new, Unagi model satomobiles and raced off into the desert.

"It's about time," said the woman as the police drove away, her hands on her hips and her body positioned stoutly.

The business woman breathed a small laugh through her nose. Then she looked beyond the family, a bit left, and analyzed the crime scene. There was a clock missing, and oddly enough, one boy with it. Perhaps…the plan had worked...

* * *

That very boy smashed his way through the boulder above him. Fragments spewed into the air and rained down in a hail of stones. In one glorious jump, Dun emerged from the treasure room. Flooded with light, his eyes had to adjust before he could make out the sand benders walking in the distance, and the shopkeeper, tied up-side-down to the large one's back on some sort of sleeping bag. Dun put his hand on his forehead and squinted closely. The shopkeeper's mouth was covered, but when he saw Dun, his eyebrow peaked. Dun swept his hand down in a salute to the shopkeeper, then ran behind a rock.

Sandstorm Quarry: A tattered carpet of sand covered all land in sight, and in the wind floated golden gales of dust. Riding these gusts were ribbon spirits, each vibrantly colored, and a few even reflected white light, causing them to resemble flying rainbows. They hummed and floated along, each oblivious to the world around them. That world was a labyrinth of jagged white boulders which surrounded Dun and the sand benders in every direction. There were countless gaps and crags between the towering rocks, which caused the winds to sing. A few starved clouds trudged along above.

Dun slipped through the crags alongside the path the sand benders walked, waiting for the opportune time to strike.

A spiky, gargantuan boulder stuck out of the ground in the center of the quarry. On the side of the rock face was a cave entrance, and the bandits walked towards it. Dune did his best to keep up.

Inside, the bandits set up a camp. The large one dropped the shopkeeper on the ground, and the loquacious one crouched next to him. The quiet bandit came closer too, and leaned against a wall, holding the clock in arm. The big guy tore the cloth off of the shopkeeper's mouth. "Now speak! How'd and where'd you get your hands on our tribe's sacred artifact?" he interrogated, as he pointed at the clock.

"It was given to me—," started the shopkeeper.

"Thief!" exclaimed the large one.

"Easy Hulgan, let's give our friend a chance huh?" said the loquacious one, "Given? I'd like to know who by?"

"Yes," said the shopkeeper, "I—I am a traveling merchant, and on a trip to Omashu, I met an artist, a woman who said _she_ made it. She bequeathed it to me; she said I must share her message."

His words came out quickly. The shopkeeper did well to keep his composure, though still tied up, and uncomfortably staring at the white stalactites on the ceiling.

"Well, she lied to your face," said the loquacious one, a bit too calmly. "You've desecrated the relic of Shijian, and for that, you will repay her…in time!"

He raised a short as he began to strike-" _Shoop!"_ the ground beneath him slid back, causing him to fall on his face.

The quiet one got off the wall. Hulgan, in astonishment, stood up quickly, and put up his fists. "Intruder!" he shouted.

A rectangular prism came out of the rock wall next to him, hit him in the head, and knocked him out cold. He fell on top of the grounded sand bender, just as he'd begun to stand up.

Dun emerged from behind a veil of tall, dark stalagmites. He stomped the ground, ejecting the two KO'd bandits to the side. It was just him, and the quiet one now. He held a hand behind his back, and with the other, beckoned at the final sand bender. " _Come at me"_ his eyes jeered.

The sand bender made the first move. Digging his fingers into the earth, in one strike, he turned the ground into sand. A wave barrelled towards Dun, but Dun dove straight in, and let it pass around him. He cleared a hole through the other side and started his assault. He stomped the ground, causing three rocks to levitate around him, then, in a flurry of kicks and punches, launched them at his opponent. The sand bender easily wove through them, and moved in on Dun. With each step, he dragged the boy towards him, using the carpet of sand. Dun crawled back, but the sand accelerated too quickly, and inside he began to panic. _"What did I get myself into?"_ he began to wonder.

* * *

Outside, officer Youya and his Riser division parked and hopped out of their Unagis.

"Sir, we're sensing seismic activity in the center of the quarry," said an officer. "Orders?"

"Capture the sand benders, make sure Dune isn't done," said Youya. "Let's go, on the double!"

The officers wasted no time on their chase. The thought of his _own_ son crossed Youya's mind. _"Don't be late dad"_.

* * *

The sand was reeling Dun in. _"Actually, on second thought, was it the sand?"_ Dun slipped away. Further and further into his head, the world outside washed away. A world existed outside, but it was suddenly, for whatever reason, less relevant. _"_ _Who is this attacker? Who is the tied up man? He's the shopkeeper, right?…but who is he? What is a shop...keeper?...Why am I here? Why are any of us here? Who is US?...Am I...me? Is there someone inside of me? Maybe...or maybe... I'm alone?...How long have I been alone? How long have I, been here?..THE TIME!"_

Twas then that Dun realized—he had been staring at the clock in the sand bender's arm. Then the waves intensified, this time propelling his soul into the beyond… _Sand…glass…time…_

A figure at the end of the intangible road, forever loyal.

 _"_ _It is your time"._

An omnipotent voice spoke from deep within Dun.

* * *

The sand bender held Dun up by the front of his vest. His body didn't seem responsive, he just stared upwards. _"Is this a trick?"_ wondered the bandit.

The earth began to tremble. The wind's speed accelerated, growing louder and louder until breaking into high pitched screams. A powerful torrent of wind blasted into the cave, and created a dust vortex around the child.

The wind stripped the hood and rags away from the sand bender's head, revealing luminescent black hair and the face of a beautiful young woman. She let Dun go, and began to back away. Her eyes gazed into the vortex until they met Dun's, which began to roll back. They turned white-hot blue and started glowing.

* * *

Outside, the ribbon spirits jumped in a virulent dance. Their humming had crescendoed into laughter, muffled by the wind and their own echoes. They had spiraled into a beautiful state of chaos. Officer Youya stopped in their wake, and stared towards the mountainous rock. The rest of Riser division did the same.

"Sir, orders?!" spoke Deputy Lee.

Youya snapped out of his short lived trance of amazement.

"…Right. Which one of you is afraid of getting laughed at to death? We keep moving!" shouted Youya.

* * *

"THOOM!"

From the vortex's singularity, exploded a spherical pulse of blue energy; it encompassed the surrounding quarry.

"THOOM! THOOM!"

Two more pulses exploded.

The young woman, slowly, took miniscule half-steps back. Her face, however, remained clandestine.

The sand crept onto Dun, encroaching his small body, until finally, it swallowed him whole. The earth seized perpetually, and as a result, the jagged chandelier of crystals above Dun plummeted to the ground.

 _"_ _And so it ends,"_ thought the bandit, " _All too soon."_

She thought wrong. The battle had barely begun.

* * *

From forth the fatal flumes of the now floored ceiling arose an Avatar: A monster clad in sand with a gaping void for a mouth, glowing blue eyes that pierced all evil, and arms eternally latched to the earth in a death grip. Just above the avatar's head, dangled a stalactite. Others hung from invisible strings around him. The woman watched, as they did the unimaginable. The floating spikes instantly spun up-side-down and shot into Dun's sand armor, merging with the beast. Finally, the ground stopped shaking, and the wind came to a standstill.

The gaping hole smiled, sand drooling from its cavity.

It let out a primal roar, which diminished into a resounding growl. Then everything went quiet.

* * *

The sand bender stepped forward— _"Crack!"_ a pillar of earth came from beneath her, propelling her into the air. A stalagmite missile array erected from the stone floor directly beneath her. Noticing just in time, the sand bender fired back at the homing stalagmites with stalactites from above her, but just as she thought the barrage was nearing its end, a spontaneous wave of sand smacked her down to earth. Dust spewed from the explosions above. It rained in sheets of bitter earth.

She crawled out of the sandy depths, to find the beast still where it was, waiting for her next move. _"I have to use my special power. If it has come to this, then it's my only chance,"_ she thought to herself. The beast lifted a sharp stone hand and wagged a finger. Yet another taunt.

The silent sand bender stood up. She tore away her cloak, which revealed sand bender wraps and a small pouch at her waist. Her hand carefully hovered towards the pouch as she studied the beast. She waved over it, slowly, with her hand. Then a loud and pleasant humming began. From the satchel slowly leaked a golden colored, rainbow ribbon spirit. It flew down, and then up, stretching its body after awakening from its slumber. "Ahhh," the spirit yawned.

The sand bender's hands began to wave throughout the air, performing a rapid dance of gesticulations, causing the sand to lace around the spirit, and for the spirit to glow. Then, the ribbon spirit passed into the bandit, and the bandits eyes glowed, just barely, in a golden tint. Her sanded rags turned white, and shone with the colors of the rainbow.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Come back to find out what happens next!


End file.
